PITTSGROVE TWP. — On Wednesday night, Schalick High School quarterback Jarred McCafferty suited up in his helmet and pads for the final time. He was determined to make his last game a memorable one.

And that he did.

After trailing 13-0 at halftime against Cumberland in the two teams’ annual Thanksgiving matchup, the 6-2, 209-pound captain led his team in scoring 28 unanswered points to earn a comeback victory over the Colts, 28-13. This was an ultimate dream for Jarred because he got to live a moment like his idols, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, who have lived the same dream of a miracle comeback.

“To be down 13-0 and put up 28 points in the second half, it was a great feeling,” said McCafferty. “There was no better feeling than to go out with a win against our cross-town rivals.”

After the game, Cumberland coach Tom Lake had nothing but good words to say to the young quarterback.

“It’s been a pleasure playing against you these last four years,” Lake said to McCafferty. “It’s an honor to play against a warrior. I know that baseball is in your heart, but you know what? You’re a fine football player as well. I never say good luck, it means you didn’t (need luck). You deserve everything.”

Those words meant a lot to McCafferty.

“That to me is the ultimate compliment,” said McCafferty. “Coach Tom Lake is a great person. He is so great to talk to. When I see him, I shake his hand, talk to him because you can learn so much from him. Any time you get a compliment like that from another coach it makes you feel good about yourself.”

His teammates had nothing but great things to say about him as well.

“He’s a great leader,” said Cougars wide receiver Melvin Allen. “When you drop a pass, he doesn’t yell at you, when you don’t know something, he doesn’t yell at you. He just tells you what you got to know and tells you to get them back on the next play.”

To get ready for the scholastic season, he works year-round.

“I put a lot time in the weight room to get my body weight up,” said McCafferty. “I try my hardest to stay on the field and out of the trainers office. I threw a lot of balls over the summer, worked out with my wide receivers and studied the game.”

As he reflected on his last four years in high school football, he couldn’t hide the smiles and even the stray tear.

“It’s been everything I expected it to be,” he said. “Going in, I had a lot of older friends that had already been through the program. They said it’s gonna go by fast, but it’s going to be the time of your life. And that’s what it did. It went by way too fast, but it was the time of my life and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I would give anything to play another down in the green and gold.”

He gave credit to his father, brother and his quarterback coach Eric Bailey for all of their support.

“My dad and my brother have always come to every game,” he added. “But a lot goes to my coach, Eric Bailey, who stuck by me during my four years. I wasn’t exactly a sculpted athlete, but he stuck by me all four years and made me the player I am today.”

His football career may be over, but he still has one more season of baseball, which is his true love. Ever since he can remember, baseball has been in his blood. It all started with his grandfather, who passed on the love of the sport.

“Baseball is the first sport I ever played,” said McCafferty, who has a few schools in the running for his college choice where he’ll most likely take to the diamond. “My grandfather is a huge baseball fan and from always being around him, he helped my love for baseball grow.”